I was having a rough day on Sunday. The Saturday evening snow had turned to ice overnight, and my driveway, which is challengingly sloped even in good weather, was basically a skating rink turned into a ramp. I decided to skip my planned 11-mile run, as not only were the trails unusable, but running on the roads of my township was bound to be extremely hazardous. An hour and a half of breaking up ice and shoveling it was completed in time to watch the Eagles lay a huge egg against a bad Minnesota Vikings team that was missing its best player. I needed a pick-me-up and I received it in spades, thanks to the Dallas Cowboys and Tony Romo, who blew a 23-point halftime lead and lost to the Green Bay Packers.

Tony Romo is astonishingly predictable. He might be my least favorite player in the NFL, and he is a fun guy to have at the top of that list. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying he is devoid of talent. Year after year, he puts up crazy statistics and has his team in some degree of playoff contention. More than anyone else I have ever seen (among good players), though, he is a virtual lock to blow it at the most critical time. You can just sit there and wait for it to happen, and you are rarely disappointed. On Sunday, the Cowboys were leading the Packers 26-3 at halftime and had put up 332 yards of offense. After three quarters, it was 29-17 Cowboys. When the Packers scored to close the gap to 36-31 with a little over four minutes left in the game, I could feel it coming. Romo time. Somehow, some way, Romo was going to mess this up. Five plays later, a pass that he never should have thrown landed in the hands of Packers defensive back Sam Shields. Beautiful. Green Bay drove down and scored with 1:34 left to take a 37-36 lead, with a failed two-point conversion leaving them with that one point lead. I was actually kind of excited that there was still a minute and a half left, as we were clearly going to get another opportunity for some Romo magic. The man did not disappoint, taking only two plays to give the ball back to the Pack, with Tramon Williams making the interception this time.

By the way, although this is Good Sports, I need to throw something negative in here as well. The final interception was actually ruled an incomplete pass on the field and needed a replay from the booth in order for the correct call to be made. I don’t know who the ref was on that play, but he was in perfect position to make the call and was just a few feet away from the play, yet he got it completely wrong. He should be suspended or fired. What a completely awful call at a hugely critical point in the game. If you get that wrong, when you are in the exact right spot and facing the exact right way, why are you even there?

Good sports, continued:

2) Roy Halladay, one of the best pitchers I have ever seen, announced his retirement this week. He had an incredible career and always conducted himself with class and dignity. I am happy that we got to have him here in Philadelphia for the last four years of his career.

Bad Sports:

1) Three people were stabbed outside of Invesco Field in Denver after a game between the Broncos and the San Diego Chargers. The fight was apparently about a parking space.

2) Another death has occurred at a Brazilian stadium that will host an upcoming World Cup soccer game. This time, it happened in Manaus, as a worker fell over 100 feet after a cable broke.

3) Robert Griffin III (whom I refuse to call RG3 due to the fact that no one else will call him anything else at any time), the quarterback of the Washington Redskins who had such a great rookie year last year, saw his poor sophomore year hit a new low this week, when he was benched for the remainder of the season in favor of fellow second-year quarterback Kirk Cousins. Soon-to-be-fired coach Mike Shanahan said that the move was to protect Griffin, but it is clear that the Baylor product’s play is what led to the move.

4) Former Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson has been reinstated by the school and will be back in uniform next season. I know I don’t have all the details here, but wasn’t he kicked out for cheating? I thought that usually ended one’s time at a university.

5) Matt Elam, a safety for the Baltimore Ravens, must not be a very smart guy. This week, in anticipation of his team’s game against the Detroit Lions, he talked about the physical game he plans to play against Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, saying that Johnson was getting “pretty old” and couldn’t take it. Trash talking is one thing, but Johnson is very clearly the best wide receiver in the game, and is also only 28 years old. The game hasn’t happened yet (it’s the Monday night game), but I expect to see the man known as “Megatron” show Matt Elam what he can do.

6) Coming into the season, South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney was being touted as perhaps the best NFL prospect to come along in the past decade. He finished the season with a mere three sacks, and last weekend, he got a ticket for driving 110 miles per hour near Rock Hill, South Carolina. Not exactly what those NFL GMs were hoping to see.

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity.
Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02

Jadeveon Clowney ought to get a separate “bad sport” entry just for that name. That’s just an inexcusable name. Borderline criminal, if you ask me.

Brian// Dec 16, 2013 at 9:35 pm

Is it really “Good Sport” to relish the downfall of people like Tony Romo? I’m not questioning you, but actually my own perspective. I am not ashamed to say that I look forward to seeing the Cowboys lose in spectacular fashion. I think I like Romo as a seemingly nice and regular guy, and he is as you say, a very talented NFL QB. But he is a Cowboy, a tool of Jerry Jones, and he is deserving of the slings and arrows of ourageous MIS-fortune.

So I indulge myself in the guilty pleasure of seeing the Cowboys and Romo fold like origami when everyone in Cowboy Fan-dom is hoping they will persevere in crunch time. Is that being a “Good Sport?” Okay, I doubt it. I should be a bigger person. But does it feel good? YEAHHHHHH!